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Friday, September 9, 2011

50 Women Game Changers in Food - #14 Elizabeth David - Chocolate Cake

Portrait courtesy of Wikipedia

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Elizabeth David was a child of privilege who grew to become a beautiful, adventurous woman. She was a food writer whom many credit with revitalizing home cooking and expanding the horizons of homemakers in Britain. Behind the scenes, her life was the stuff screen writers dream of. As a young woman she studied art in France, and while she failed as an artist, this period of her life introduced her to the glories of the French kitchen. She abandoned art for the theater, but was unsuccessful there as well. Her stage career ended abruptly when she ran off with a much older man and began the first of many adventures that would mark her singular life. The liaison took her through the Mediterranean where her love of food was fueled. She escaped the Nazi invasion of Greece by fleeing to Egypt where her language skills made her a natural for employment with the British government. When the war ended, she returned to England. Wartime rationing was still in effect and she was dismayed by the restrictions it imposed on the British diet. That led her to write a series of articles celebrating the food of the Mediterranean and the ingredients used in its cooking. Her writing sparked the imaginations of her war weary readers and her career as a food writer began. Within ten years of her return home she was a major influence in British cooking. She would go on to write eight books, some of which were autobiographical. She led a remarkable, unconventional life, and while she was purported to be an unpleasant person, she was an extraordinary food writer who introduced the British to olive oil and garlic and the wonders of the Mediterranean kitchen. She's earned her place on the Gourmet Live list of Women Game Changers in Food. Her food, to this day, remains some of the best around. I've chosen a recipe for her flourless chocolate cake to share with you today. It is delicious.

Directions:1) Preheat oven to 300 degrees and butter an 8 inch spring-form pan.2) In a heavy saucepan over low heat, melt 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate with vanilla, espresso and brandy.3) Add butter, sugar, and ground almonds and heat mixture until the butter is melted. Remove pan from the heat.4) Beat 3 large egg yolks until they are lemon colored. Stir them into the chocolate mixture.5) Whip 3 large egg whites until they are just stiff and fold them into the chocolate mixture.6) Turn batter into prepared pan and bake cake in the middle of the oven for 45 minutes. Cake will have some cracks on top and a tester will not come out clean. Let cake cool completely on a rack and remove side of the pan.7) Brush with raspberry jelly or whipped cream or powdered sugar. Yield: 8 servings.

The following bloggers are also featuring the recipes of Elizabeth David. I hope you'll visit all of them. They are all great cooks who have wonderful blogs.

Next week we will highlight the food and recipes of Sheila Lukins and Julee Rosso. It will be really interesting to see what everyone comes up with. If you'd like to join us please email me for additional information. Everyone is welcome.

As I said on Val's post, Elizabeth David is one of the ladies I knew the least about. It never occurred to me about her escaping from the Nazi's, but of course it makes sense now that I read what you've shared.

Just think where we would be in terms of healthy and tasty food filled with sunshine of the Mediterranean had it not been for Elizabeth David. Your cake is a perfect example.Sam

This is such a great series, Mary. And the recipe is gluten-free. Nice. Too bad this lovely lady had a reputation for being unpleasant. How could you be around so much delicious food and be unpleasant?

That was so very interesting. I've seen her picture, and the covers of her books, but really didn't know anything about her. Is there life without garlic and olive oil? I lived probably twenty years without either one. Imagine.

Very interesting note. I was not familiar with Elizabeth David or at least had never attributed her name to cooking. My loss, I will have to check out her cookbooks soon. The chocolate cake looks wonderful.

Thank you for visiting my blog and introducing me to yours. I enjoyed reading the post on Elizabeth David. I've subscribed to your blog and will definitely be a faithful reader and bookmarking many recipes. Jackie

Dear Mary, surely, it is not a good idea to visit your blog hungry!!! Oh, dear, I just saw soooo many delicious recipes I got wish to try them all...Thank you for stopping by my little corner and your kind words...well, surely I will have to come back here more times, anyway when I want to make something different in the kitchen I always look for help from my old buddy WWW...Blessings and have a lovely week-end,Nádya

Mary, in case you or any of your readers are interested i have a blog candy on to win mine and Arantxa's book Party Food for Girls.

Basically it is like asking blogger friends to promote it, I guess this is what a blog candy is all about :-), and two small writers from the end of the world cannot compete with the marketing machines of the TV chefs, so why not, I'll try with blogging!!!

It is a good book made with love and lots of work, I can personally assure you of that :-). Of course it I will post worldwide :-).

This cake sounds fabulous...I love adding espresso or coffee to my chocolate cakes. I have loved learning more about so many great ladies I'd never heard of before...thanks so much for inspiring us and starting this great cook-along =)

I read one of her books and while I was not overly impressed I did envy her lifestyle; this cake is fabulous, reminding me of a classic one my mother used to make, with only one tablespoon of flour and lots of beaten egg whites.

I did not know who Elizabeth David was until this week, so thank you for leading us on this journey to learn about all the great women in food. Love the black and white photo of this decadent cake in honor of Elizabeth David.

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